Everlasting Love
by Genessis Mendez
Summary: What to R&D? Are they alive or walking among us as the undead? This is the year of the Kat to find love and make sure she keeps it. Because, after all, we are not responsible for our parent's mistakes. Starts off with Kat but still R&D. On Hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

**_I know y'all have been waiting for this a long time. I have good news. I've got at least four chapters for this sequel so I'll just leave you the summary today and perhaps I'll give you the first chapter for Christmas tomorrow. How does that sound? Good? Great. _**

**_Summary:_**

**_It has been thirteen long years since Kat was kidnapped by Strigoi along with Tasha. Thirteen years since she last saw her father and the little she remembers now is not enough for her, neither is enough for Dimitri's son: Dimitri. Now that Kat has graduated from St. Basil, the Academy in Russia, she seeks to go to college in Novosibirsk but before she goes there, she has to go to court in America to talk to her mother about it. Afraid of her mother's reaction because Tasha has asked her to take a year off school to travel with her, Kat is torn between doing what she's told like always and going to college. But her plans change when she meets mysterious and handsome Alexander Stroe. Still, while she discovers love she also discovers the reason why her mother wanted her to travel with her so badly and that perhaps her mother is not Tasha when she sees her father's belongings and among them the picture of a woman who looks very much like her._**

**_This story is still about Dimitri and Rose but I'll start it off with Kat. So don't worry. _**

**_Please review and tell me what you think of this summary._**


	2. Pilot

**Every Fight. Every Deception. Every Journey. Every Desire. Every Friendship. Every Sacrifice. Everything has led to this. ****To Everlasting Love. **

**The Last Chance. The Last Chapter. **

**Vampire Academy: Everlasting Love.**

**_Chapter 1: Pilot_**

"Kat, are you ready?" I turned around and came to face with my cousin Paul. He was leaning casually against the door, offering me a kind smile that was always edged with some sadness in his eyes. Since I could remember, he'd always looked at me that way. At first it had been his expression to give him away, but as I grew up and realized what auras were, I began to notice that that sadness didn't appear unless he was around me or my brother Dimitri, even with my mom whenever she visited me. He didn't know I knew though, and I was planning on keeping it that way.

So I offered him a charming smile, the same I gave everyone whenever I knew too much about them due to my ability to see auras. "Yes, I'm ready."

He nodded and straightened himself from his relaxed position, going back to looking all dangerous and guardian-like. Paul was a dhampir and one of the guardians at my school. But because he was my cousin, and I was traveling halfway across the world, he'd decided to take a break and go with me. I honestly thought that it was useless. I mean, I was only going to America to visit my mother and stay there the rest of the summer. It wasn't like I wasn't coming back. I was planning on going to college here in Russia because I loved it here. He was a really good guardian, well trained and all, so he was needed at St. Basil.

I opened my mouth to tell him, again, that I didn't need him to come with me and that everything would be alright. I knew that the court over there in America was well-guarded, the Queen lived over there. So it was obvious I would be safe. But I decided to drop it. It was useless to argue with him, he was good at making me feel guilty about things.

With a small nod and serious look he left the room, probably going to get his things downstairs if they weren't there already. He was such a neat freak that I was sure he would give his girlfriend a hard time one day, if he ever got one. Since even before he graduated he'd never brought any girls home. Sure, he had girl friends, just not the kind I would like him to have.

After everything was packed and I had my messenger bag over my shoulder, I rolled my suitcase down the hall towards the stairs but I almost had a heart attack when Dimitri popped out of his room carrying his shoulder bag and I collided with him.

"_Chert vozʹmi!_" He exclaimed and then turned around, probably to snap but he caught himself in time when he saw it was me. "_Koshka_, I wouldn't hire you to kill someone and make it look like an accident, you suck." His tone and face were serious, as if he was talking about something really important but I didn't laugh like I wanted to. I mean, only him wouldn't laugh at his own joke, or make it sound so serious, which I always found funny.

Instead, I scowled as I walked past him because he knew how much I hated it every time he called me that. He literally called me a cat! "My name is Kat, not cat." I reminded him.

Behind me, I could have sworn he chuckled, something very rare because most of the time he looked stoic, as if he could take anything coming his way without even flinching and it was rare when he decided to crack a joke or even acknowledge you. But he, unlike Paul, had a social life and many girlfriends. I just wished I was there every time he asked a girl out to see their shocked faces over the fact that one of the cutest and hottest guys was talking to them. At least that's what I'd heard he girls from school talk about. He was barely fifteen and already had a long history of girlfriends, most of them nice and pretty, but they turned on him when he dumped them, which was kind of sad.

I didn't have any classes with him, he was a freshman and I'd been a senior, but rumors around school always spread like a fire, fast. And he was one of the main people who got caught up in the circle of gossip. But it wasn't his reputation as ladies' man that made him so famous around school. It was the fact that he was really good at fighting. At the end of this school year he'd beaten up one of the guardians who'd been pretending to be Strigoi for the senior dahmpir's field experience because the dahmpir who was supposed to be tested was too distracted to take care of his Moroi in 'danger,' and he hadn't gotten in trouble. I'd been skeptical; until I asked him and he said it was no big deal, that he'd barely touched the guardian, which meant it was true. For a guy who was usually quiet, he was a really good fighter.

"Let me help you, _sestra_, you might break something." He took my suitcase from me and kept on walking like it was nothing, and I didn't doubt it was nothing for him. He trained and lifted weights all the time, so I figured my suitcase would be nothing and let him roll it to the car. But I hated the fact that he thought that only because I was a Moroi I couldn't take care of myself. So what if I couldn't fight or lift weights like he did? That didn't make me a total moron. Well, probably among his dhampir friends that did mean they were morons, they were supposed to be able to do that after all.

Outside, Paul was looking relaxed and in a good mood, but I knew that him and Dimitri were alert in case something happened, even though there had never been an attack around here. They were always careful and it bothered me a lot. I mean, I was scared of Strigoi. I'd always had nightmares about them since I could remember and often woke up in the middle of the night with horrible images of Dimitri's father dead or Dimitri himself. sometimes it was my mom or my entire family. But more often, it was me, or at least someone who looked a lot like me. Her face was always bloody and blurry but I could make out my features in her face. Perhaps I was seeing my own death.

A voice startled me and brought me back from my gory daydream. "Were you leaving without saying goodbye?" My aunt Karolina, Paul's mom, said from behind us and we quickly apologized.

"Of course not, mama, we were just putting everything inside." Paul rarely lied, but this time he was doing so and I was barely able to contain a little laugh. At twenty eight and he was still afraid of his mother, it was pitiful. But then who wouldn't be afraid of a mom?

Alek walked out of the house, carrying a big messenger bag and took in the scene in front of him with a sardonic smile. He knew we'd been planning to leave before Karolina,his mother Sonya or his grandmother would get here. They'd all been out shopping and apparently, barely made it in time before we left. I already knew they'd be here because they wouldn't let us leave without a goodbye. Paul was the only one who thought he could get away with this.

"Hmm, _brat_, we've been caught" Alek said, coming down and placing his bag in the trunk along with the rest of our luggage.

The reason why Paul wanted to leave without a goodbye was because he hated goodbyes, even if we'd be back soon. He hated having to stand there knowing it would be a while before he saw his family again and I didn't blame him. It was hard to say goodbye to someone who you loved.

Karolina crossed her arms over her chest and arched an eyebrow, "So you were planning on leaving without a goodbye?" Her Russian accent was thick enough to make me smile, it meant she was angry but masking it with amusement so Paul wouldn't see her outburst coming until it was too late.

"I told him we should wait." Dimitri and I said at the same time and then looked at each other smiling.

Paul murmured something that I didn't catch, walking over to his mother like he was walking over fire. It was really amusing.

"I'm sorry mama, I just didn't think you would be back in time and I wanted to leave before the sun set." His excuse was a good one, because Karolina's aura wasn't as red anymore, which meant her anger had dimmed. That didn't mean he was off the hook, though.

"You should have waited." She grumbled and slapped his arm with enough force to make him flinch. This time Dimitri did let out a real laugh, which even startled Karolina and she turned to him with a small smile. I smiled too.

Dimitri always got off the hook with a simple smile or laugh, sometimes it only took him a couple of words to make his point and be excused. He was good at charming everyone and getting his way, and he always acted like it was nothing. His way surprised me because not even I, with Spirit's help, could get away with nearly as much as him. At school he always got good grades and had many friends, or at least people who wanted to hang out with him. He never really mentioned anyone as his friend. Occasionally, he would mention the girl he was going out with, but that almost never happened.

"Damn, he's lucky he can persuade people that easy." Alek murmured in my ear as we walked back inside to say goodbye to everyone. I laughed at his comment, it was as if he'd read my mind.

Inside we said our goodbyes to our grandmother and Sonya who had also been a little angry when Karolina told her we'd been about to leave without a goodbye. When the goodbyes were over and we were on our way to the airport, I felt a little sad. I knew it was stupid, but I felt like it would be years before I was going to be back instead of just weeks.

We boarded the plane, which took us a while, and I was grateful when I finally had time to rest in the plane. Dimitri, as always, sat beside me, and Alek on my other side. Paul had ended up on the next row, right next to an old lady who seemed to be in a bad mood and kept on telling Paul how ill-mannered young people from this era were. This amused the rest of us greatly because we knew that his patience would only last so long and we wouldn't land on America in hours.

"I bet he snaps in three hours," said Alek, leaning closer to me. He was barely able to contain his chuckles. On my other side, my brother, seemed to have the same problem. I rolled my eyes, boys were always going to be boys no matter what and I hated it when they got like this. I truly preferred the quiet and serious Dimitri than this other side of him that enjoyed seeing other people's discomforts. But, after all, he was a guy.

"_Net_, he'll snap sooner than that." Dimitri chimed in.

"Stop it, both of you!" I hissed at them, "You act like a pair of _idioty_" It was amusing, I had to admit but they were going over the top with their teasing.

"Shut up _Kushka_," said Dimitri with a serious face, and even though I knew he was just teasing it made me a little mad. "This is entertaining."

I stopped paying attention to them and decided to concentrate on something other than their amusement over Paul's discomfort. I had better things to think about. Like the fact that in just a couple of hours I would see my mom again after about a year. I was nervous, more than that, I had no idea how to tell her that I didn't want to go traveling with her like she'd planned for us after graduating from high school this summer. I didn't have any idea why it was so important that I traveled with her, but I guessed that after years of barely seeing me she wanted to spend some time with me. I didn't blame her. But I kinda felt like I would miss my brother.

Dimitri had already said that he wasn't going to go anywhere with us because he was planning on staying at court and train with the rest of the guardians there. He was so anti-social when it came to talking and mingling, but he could also be dedicated when he wanted to, which was always. Like the rest of the dahmpirs, he was dedicated and responsible, perhaps too much and I'd heard Paul talking with the rest of the guardians about how good he was and that he would one day make a great guardian. I didn't doubt that.

Still, there was something that worried me. I had no idea why but I knew that something would change. It was a feeling that I had in my gut and I didn't like it at all. I didn't want to upset my mom by telling her that I wouldn't travel with her and I didn't want to leave Dimitri either. In all these years I'd never been away from him. He'd always been there at school with me, just a couple of buildings away and whenever I wanted I could just go and say hi to him. But now we wouldn't even be anywhere close. I would be going to college next year in Novosibirsk, which was hours away from Baia and I would be lucky if I saw him once a year during breaks.

Mom wouldn't be happy about my decision, I knew it. So I was just hoping she wouldn't try to convince me otherwise. I mean, it was ok she liked to travel. There was nothing wrong with it as far as I knew. So, what if she barely had time to visit us over at Russia? She had her own life and all. I wasn't going to blame her for anything.

Sometime later I must have fallen asleep because when I woke up there was an annoying voice speaking English so fast that I was barely able to understand. It was really annoying and opened my eyes ready to snap at anyone, which is when I remembered where I was. The anxiousness came back when I remembered why I was here.

"Finally, I thought we'd be here forever" Alek murmured with disgust. "That lady was starting to bug me too."

I turned to him, ready with some ugly reply but I shut up because I knew he would reply back and start something I wasn't in the mood for. So I just stayed quiet and waited for the plane to land. I took a deep breath as we got off the plane, knowing that soon things were very much likely to change.

_Chert vozʹmi!: Dammit!_

___Koshka: cat_

_____sestra: sister_

_______brat: brother_

_________Net: no_

___________idioty: idiots _

**_Finally the first chapter! I'm so excited about this chapter and I hope y'all like it as much as I do. This is y'alls Christmas gift. At least one of us got what they wanted. I didn't get the damn Nook i asked for! But enough of my rambling. Review and tell me what you think. Oh, yes, the writing in black letters at the top is from the Last Sacrifice video. I thought it was good and decided to use it as a motto too but none of it is mine. The characters and all are Richelle Mead's. None of this is mine except Kat and Alek and Dimitri junior. :)_**

**_Hope y'all got what y'all wanted. I'll update soon. And thanks for all the amazing reviews y'all left for the summary. I loved them. _**


	3. Court

One guardian was already waiting for us when we got off the plane and he didn't look happy about the fact that our flight had been delayed. Paul, as my sanctioned guardian while we were outside where it wasn't safe, was looking alert and everywhere. We'd arrived at night, something he wasn't so happy about and I realized that it wasn't only him who was now acting like that. Alek was walking behind me, probably looking the same and Dimitri was at my other side, inspecting everyone like they were all a threat.

I rolled my eyes. Only they would think that all these humans were a threat. I only saw people hurrying up to get to places, like they had no time. Still, I couldn't help but watch out too because I had some sort of déjà vu feeling. It sent chills down my spine.

"Guardian Belikov," The old guardian greeted Paul and my cousin only nodded.

"You must be Guardian Barnes, thanks for coming to pick us up." Paul said.

After that we didn't talk, they were too busy scanning the area for any Strigoi, which I doubted would be here. But I had no doubt that if there were any I would be safe. They would never let anything happen to me. While they stared at each other and looked around I walked ahead of them to retrieve my own bags. I heard Dimitri curse, in Russian of course, which I totally understood and I blushed involuntarily. Guys had such foul language. Still, they followed me and got into formation once again. It was annoying to have an escort, it was only me: an unimportant Moroi and they were acting as if I was the princess herself. Perhaps now I was, too, becoming paranoid.

We got into the car after getting our bags and the guardian began driving to court. I was bored to death and the worst was that no one else seemed to have the same problem. Dimitri looked rather interested, it was his first time here in America and he seemed really excited about it, at least as excited as he could be with a serious face. His expressive blue eyes the only thing giving him away.

At the gates, more guardians asked questions but they let us go through fast, though I was too distracted looking around to care. This place was huge and so pretty that I couldn't stop gawking. I could not believe that my mom didn't want to live here. I mean, this was so gorgeous and magnificent. I didn't recall ever being here, even though Tasha had said we had when dad was still alive and head of security here at court. Dimitri was barely fifteen but he hadn't met his father, who happened to have had the same name, at least until he died in a battle with Strigoi when I was a little girl because Tasha and I had been kidnapped. He'd saved us, but it had cost him his life. That thought always brought tears to my eyes. I missed him, though I had little memories of him

Every night before I went to sleep I tried to remember what had happened that night but I never did. I could barely remember Dimitri, the man who I used to call daddy or Papa, in Russian, and that made me feel like I was missing some important part of my childhood. I'd seen pictures of him, Babushka and his sisters talked about him all the time like he was some god or something, and yet, I couldn't remember anything about him. Besides pictures of him with mom and me when I was little and all that, I was sure there were videos too, I had nothing else of him. Mom had never showed me those videos or the rest of the pictures that I was sure she always carried around with her wherever she went in her exotic travels. She never seemed to want to talk to me about him and I understood that it was hard for her, but I felt like I needed something to hold on to. Not even my brother knew much about his father, and Dimitri had been his biological father so I couldn't even begin to imagine how hard it must have been for him not to know much about his father because he hadn't been born yet. I barely remembered him and I missed him every day, so it must have been worse for him if he hadn't known him at all.

Actually, I knew it was hard for him. I'd seen it in his aura every time the parents went to the academy to take their kids somewhere when we were on break. His aura always blackened a little at the edges with a red rim.

"Wow, this place is amazing. Why can't I stay here too?" Alek's enthusiasm made me snap back into reality. He was thrilled to be here because for him this was nothing more than a trip to America in which he was discovering new things, and it was ok but I just didn't feel like dealing with him today.

"No, we just came here to drop Dimitri and Kathryn off, and then we're leaving." Alek was about to protest but Paul cut him off. "No questions asked."

The guardian dropped us off at what he said was the Ivashkov wing and I was a little freaked out about that. The last Queen, Tatiana Ivashkov, had died years ago—more like murdered by Strigoi actually—but apparently the apartments were still there. Now though, there was a new wing that belonged to the Dragomir's. It was weird because there was only four Dragomirs: Vasilissa, Christian and their daughters, Valerie and Aurora. I might have not been living here in America but royal news traveled fast everywhere and the Queen and her family was very important.

"I hope mom won't drag me to meet any royals." I told Dimitri as we walked.

He barely glanced at me but I saw the corners of his mouth twitch a little bit. "Oh, I hope she doesn't. I wouldn't want to listen to you bitching about it later." His words were bitter and harsh.

I was shocked at his words. He rarely swore when I was present, which meant there was something seriously wrong with him. I tried to guess why but the only thing I could come up with was the fact that he must have been remembering the little mom told us about his father.

Apparently Paul had heard him too and was not happy about his response. "Dimka!"

Dimitri just turned to Paul and shrugged but didn't say or do anything.

"Told you he gets away with everything," Alek said with a laugh.

We kept on walking and stopped talking. When we reached the room where my mom was, the guardian just left with nothing more than a nod directed at us, though I saw his gaze linger on Dimitri longer than it should have. This man apparently seemed to think my brother was too tall for his age, or too dedicated. Dimitri was already 6'2 and had the muscled body of any other dhampir.

"Let's just get this over with, please." Dimitri said with exasperation when we just stood there and knocked on the door.

The door opened automatically and my mom stood there, smiling just a sec before she enveloped us into a big hug. I hugged her back, happy to see her again after a long time. I just wished she wouldn't get too mad at me when I told her the news.

"I'm happy you are finally here, come in." We all went in and she told us to have a seat.

Paul didn't sit, neither did Alek. Instead, both of them just stood at the sides, observing. I rolled my eyes. You could take the guys out of their guardian's post but you couldn't take their guardian nature from them. It was like being a guardian and guarding was all they knew. I didn't want Dimitri to end up like that, though he was already going into that path.

I looked at Dimitri, whose face had no expression whatsoever.

"Oh, c'mon guys, just drop the act already. We're inside court, nothing can happen here" My mom's smile was sweet but her tone commanding and I could have sworn I saw Paul flinch a little. He had trouble with people telling him what to do and he was rather intimidated by my mom. I had no idea why, perhaps it was because back at the Academy he was used to telling other people what to do and not receive orders. Still, Paul did relax a little bit.

Alek, on the other hand just laughed it off. "Fine Tasha, sorry."

My mom brightened considerably. "Perfect, just take a seat and we can all talk."

Paul did it reluctantly.

"So, how long are you and Alek staying?" Mom asked

"Well, we were just going to drop Kat and Dimitri off. We'll be leaving in a couple of hours." Paul's answer was brief and his body was stiff, as if he was dying to get out of here and I didn't understand why.

Tasha seemed to get a little sad. "Oh, I was hoping you'd stay longer."

"We can't. I'm supposed to go back to the Academy. I have my own charge now." He was being a little rude but my mom didn't seem to notice or didn't care.

"I would love to…" Paul cut Alek off with a glare.

"We should get going, now." Paul got up and Alek did too, though Alek looked perhaps a little bit apologetically.

"So soon?" Mom didn't seem so sad this time and I wondered why. Suddenly the room was filled with tension. Paul and Tasha were staring at each other, daring the other to say something. I looked between the two of them, trying to decipher their auras. Paul's was darkening with what seemed to be anger, while Tasha's seemed to be dark and red with a hint of green.

"Mom, let them go. They have things to do at the Academy with the rest of the guardians." Dimitri chimed in and some of the tension left the room. He meant the Academy in Montana, St. Vladimir's. Paul needed to talk to someone over there, but hadn't said anything else about it.

Paul left without another word. Alek hugged my mom before leaving, though he seemed to have picked up on the fact that things didn't seem to be ok between them. I was really confused and barely stopped myself from asking Alek when he hugged me.

When they finally left it was only my mom, me and Dimitri.

"Well, I'm glad you two are finally here." She said, back to normal.

"Mom, I need to tell you something." I began and would have continued if it hadn't been for the fact that Dimitri shot me a look saying to keep quiet. He probably wanted to be far away from here before I told my mom that I was going to college and not on vacation with her. He was one of the few who knew about college.

Mom turned to me with a smile. "What is it Kat?"

Dimitri got up, looking uncomfortable. "I'm sure it's some girl talk. So I'll leave the two of you to it." But my mom was having none of it.

"Dimitri, please, stay. You just got here; I don't want you to go yet. Please." It wasn't a real request, more like an order. Dimitri froze, in mid-step and sat right back down. He shot me a look that said he was not happy about it and I tried to look apologetic.

"Now tell me, what's up sweetie?"

"Remember that you told me that you wanted me to go with you in one of your travels?" She nodded, looking wary. "Well…" This time I hesitated. I knew this would make her upset and that was the least I wanted. I loved her but I didn't want to take a break next year. Besides, her request had been so sudden just a couple of months ago that I wondered if there was a reason behind it. But this was my mom we were talking about. She didn't do anything crazy, even if she was an Ozera. Well, I was one too… "So… I'm going to college and not with you to Mexico or Rio."

I looked away, not wanting to look at her in the eye and see her disappointment. As expected, she was upset.

"What? Kat, we talked about this. I want you to come with me. We'll go south and have a great time. This might be the last chance for us to be together before you head off and go on with your life." She pleaded.

I couldn't resist her. That look she was giving me made me want to do as she told me and I was thinking about giving in and just taking off a year or two to be with her. I mean, there was nothing wrong with her wanting to spend more time with me. "Mom…"

"Kat, I haven't been around you constantly. I want to make up for that." Great, she was using guilt. Damn.

"Mom, let her be. She would rather go to college. I'm sure you two can spend some time together this summer before she goes off to college." Dimitri's reasoning was good. Mom always listened to him but this time not even his charms would get him off the hook.

This time mom was really pissed and telling from her aura she was getting anxious and nervous. "Kat, I don't understand why you would do this. I would like for you to come with me, please."

"Mom, I don't think we should keep talking about this. She made up her mind, just fall it" Mom gave him a puzzled look, but I pieced it together. I was already used to listening to him mess up words.

"Drop it, the word you were looking for was Drop It, Dimitri." He dismissed my corrections like it was nothing to worry about it.

"Please, just drop it" Dimitri said.

"I—" The phone rang and mom didn't say anything else.

She went over to the counter and picked up the phone. Whoever called made her even more upset and she walked away with the phone glued to her ear. She seemed to be arguing with that person.

"Dimitri…"

"Yes, I know." He finished for me, also noticing mom's strange change. "But you better leave now, before she comes back and keeps mapping you about it." I opened my mouth to correct him again and tell him that he meant'Nagging', but instead I nodded and decided that he was right. If I left right now, then she would cool off and by the time I came back she would listen to me.

"I'll walk around, be right back."

I left the place and decided to wonder around court. I didn't have any place to go or any idea where I could have some time alone. I needed some time to think more than anything. I mean, I didn't want to upset mom, she wanted to be with me and I understood that.

I tried to take my mind off things by looking around the place. Everyone walked around and hurried off like there was no tomorrow. They all seemed to have a place to be and things to do. None of them seem to want to take a break. It was as if they all only wanted to get things over with as soon as possible and didn't care what it took. This place was practically buzzing with energy and emotions, the colorful auras blinding me a little. Suddenly I was too overwhelmed with everything and I felt like I should just run away and hide.

I decided to go to the garden I saw earlier when I came in because it seemed peaceful enough. I wanted to see the statues more than anything, and the amazing fountain. Everything here just made me feel… giddy, as if I'd been happy here before. _Of_ _course I'd been here before_, I reminded myself, _I lived here when I was little_. But apparently, all those memories were now gone from my mind. I could not remember anything about being here, though. Everything had been gone, along with my memories of the man who I used to call my father.

I sat on a bench near the fountain in the middle of the garden, and tried to ignore the scary shadows that the lights made around me. This place was truly beautiful but I knew that perhaps it would look even better in daylight when everything was illuminated and there were no shadows around. I wanted to be able to see everything and not be afraid because even though I knew I was safe behind the wards here at court, I'd been taught to be always afraid of Strigoi all the time. I hated it but I guessed that after what happened to me when I was a little girl with the Strigoi it was normal for me to be scared. Still, I didn't like living like this, so cut off from what humans did. I wanted to have a normal life.

I'd been exposed to the way humans lived back in Russia at the community. There were many humans over there and all of them lived with no concerns because they didn't know anything about my world. I wished I didn't know anything about Strigoi or the dangers that existed. After all, wasn't ignorance bliss?


	4. Plans

Dimitri & Roza

"Roza, what are you doing?" Dimitri's voice brought me back to reality and I turned to look at him behind me. He was leaning casually against the French doors with an amused expression, contemplating me. While I'd been daydreaming I'd still been aware of my surroundings and remembered that he'd been there for a couple of minutes now, just watching me.

I smiled mischievously and gestured with a finger for him to come closer. When he put his arms around my waist I leaned back against him and enjoyed the scent emanating from him. The scent of death lingered around him, which meant he'd recently had his meal and just the thought made me a little hungry even though I'd fed just a while ago.

"I was just admiring the view," I finally answered Dimitri's question and he chuckled, running his hand up and down my stomach. I shivered involuntarily, not only from his touch but from the desire I could smell coming from him. In another life, years ago, being in this position with him would have made me desperate for him or feel some flutter and excitement at the thought of Dimitri. My feelings for him would have been more… out of love.

I nearly snorted just remembering the word. Love. Such a stupid and fake thing. Now Dimitri's touch only excited me because I knew the great pleasure he would give me when in bed. I lusted for his body, it was so carnal and primal. Just the way it should be.

"Me too," He began trailing kisses from my neck to jaw and then pressed his lips against mine passionately, desperately, as if he couldn't get enough of me. In one quick motion I turned towards him and pressed my body against his. One of his arms went around my waist while his other hand cupped my neck and held me firmly in place. It was a good thing I no longer really needed to breathe, it made things even more fun between us.

Feeling rather good I tore his shirt and threw the rags off to the side, then ran my hands up and down his torso. I was pleased to hear him grunt his approval but then he also decided to play brutal and pulled down my dress, which somehow ended up in a pile next to us, shredded. I was a little annoyed at first, I really liked the dress and he'd torn it. This wasn't the first time something like this happened, it had become something we did almost every night but it still annoyed me. His shirts he didn't care about but I liked to look hot in my dresses.

"That was my favorite dress!" I hissed at him, but he didn't seem to mind and continued kissing me and after a moment I decided to let it go. He would pay for it later.

His hands roamed my body and it wasn't long before I got rid of his pants and boxers. He also threw to the side my panties and bra, and this time I didn't mind. I took my time staring at him in his naked glory and licked my lips, feeling hunger flare up inside of me. But I didn't crave for blood, I wanted him, his body.

I'd seen him many times naked and no matter what his size and body still amazed me. I always enjoyed a good fuck with him because he was the only one I would ever allow to touch me or see me in any intimate way. While I loved to flirt and get on his nerves by sometimes giving hope to those new idiots who joined our ranks but didn't last long before Dimitri killed them, I only desired him, for old time's sake.

But then I decided to take things inside, it was time to get to the good part. I pushed him away and ran back inside, jumping on the bed and waiting for him. He jumped on me and tried to pin me down, but I wiggled my way and ended on top of him. His grin showed me his fangs, trying to intimidate me but I only grinned back. I wasn't afraid of him in the least. I was the only one who matched his strength and we both were high in the Strigoi world with Dimitri leading them.

"Roza," His nickname had no effect on me anymore, sometimes it even annoyed me because that wasn't my name. My name was Rose. Still, I never mentioned anything.

As always, sex was the best way to get our minds off of work. It relieved us both from all the tension and other liabilities. It was also fun, though, when there were humans in our beds and we could drink from them even as Dimitri and I did it. I never allowed anyone in my body that wasn't Dimitri and whoever dared to even see Dimitri like a fuck toy usually ended up all fucked up and dead. He was mine.

"You know what? I think I'm up for some more fun." Dimitri chuckled beside me and kissed the top of my head.

"What do you have in mind? Perhaps some more games with dhampirs? I heard about what you did to the last herd you caught and it seems to me like it was rather unnecessary." I tensed in his arms. If he dared contradict me… "Dhampirs are food, not toys, Roza. Still, I guess it should have been fun to watch as they begged for their lives and to not be awakened." I relaxed, a little.

"It was fun." I sat up, not even bothering to cover my body and reached for the bottle of whiskey we kept on the nightstand. I easily gulped down half the bottle due to the fact that I could not get drunk. I only drank in times of stress or when I felt like tasting the rich flavor of whiskey. "But they didn't put up much of a fight. I was hoping for a good battle but they don't train them like they used to." I looked sideways to him and realized that he was smiling. I growled at him a little before continuing. "I guess it's time we pay court another visit, Dimitri. Warn them of the war we're planning so they can at least try to prepare. Make it a challenge. We haven't had those since… well, only when both of us spar."

He got up and went to pour himself some vodka before coming back to bed. "You're right. We only get to have some fun when we spar. Dhampirs are turning out to be easy prey now."

We spent some minutes in silent, both of us drinking.

"I have news about Her," I detected something in Dimitri's voice that, if I hadn't known better, would have thought was fondness and longing. But that was impossible. I had none of those emotions anymore and didn't really care about them. It was all about the thrill of the hunt for me now. And the pleasure of being Dimitri's only lover. But in moments like this when he mentioned Her, I was always curious. It seemed like She was always moving and not staying in a place for long. That made it hard, but not impossible, to track and it was bad enough that she was never with who we wanted to catch.

I turned to look at him, he was just staring into the distance with that look he always got when he thought of either of them: angry. But he was angrier at me then them, I knew. After all, I'd compelled him when he was a dhampir into falling in love with Tasha and left. I still got some good laughs out of that. Even as a dhampir I'd been evil, even if I hadn't known. However, he got mad every time I brought it up.

"Where is she this time?" I asked frustrated.

"She's at court and you'll never guess who's there too." Going by his tone, I did know.

"Kathryn?" He nodded and drank the rest of his vodka, then turned to me with a smirk.

"She was stupid enough to actually bring her somewhere obvious. But knowing her she'll probably disappear again soon. So your plan of raiding court gives us a bonus. We can get Kathryn." I liked that idea. For years I've hated that bitch. Not only because she'd married Dimitri, but because of her my daughter hadn't acknowledged me. For some reason I wanted my daughter with me. That part hadn't died like I hoped it would. I still had feelings for her, they were just… unexpected. It wasn't the same complicated thing from when I was a dhampir, that much I knew.

"And finally kill Tasha," I added with a grin, which showed my fangs, and dared him to contradict me. Instantly, his face contorted into anger, the same he always showed when I mentioned killing Tasha. Of course, that got me furious too and wished I could get my hands on a silver stake to kill him. This were the kind of times I wondered if it was worth it to be with him just for the fuck of it or if I should kill him and take his place. I wasn't that good at leading them, but I could be if I wanted to and I wanted him dead. Sometimes.

"No," He roared. "You will not kill her."

I got up from the bed and put on some clothes very fast before Dimitri could say anything. I turned towards him to yell at him but he was already dressed and sitting on the bed once again. His eyes never left mine.

"I will kill her no matter what you say." He growled threatening at me and I had to fight the urge to crouch down into a defensive position in case he decided to make the big mistake of attacking me. I was furious and wouldn't hold back if it came down to a fight to death.

"If you kill her, I will kill Kathryn" I lounged at him but he moved away just in time before I tore out his throat. Before he could try to grab me, I whirled around and tackled him to the floor, pinning him there with my strength.

"She's mine to kill, Belikov. Tasha will die no matter what. And if you touch Kathryn, I will kill you. Kathryn belongs to me, at my side as one of us." For years that had been our plan, to awaken Kathryn as soon as she was old enough and as it turned out, she was.

But during my speech I must have loosened my grip because next think I knew I was the one being pinned to the floor with one of his hands wrapped around my neck, squeezing hard enough to make me wheeze for breath. This got me even madder.

"I said no! You will not kill her." Dimitri could be scary when he wanted but I still wasn't scared of him the way I should have. He would never have the balls to kill me. So I just smiled evilly at him.

"I… don't give… a fuck… about… what you… say." I spat at him and, if possible, his eyes blazed even redder than before.

"Rose…" His tone was a warning but I only glared at him.

He finally released me and I leapt up and away from him fast, crouching down, ready to fight. "Why won't you let me kill her? She's just a liability because she knows about us. Hell, she was the one who ditched to Tatiana." I honestly didn't care about any of that anymore, not for the reasons I once did. Before it had been all about loving Dimitri and wanting to be with him and my daughter, but that was the past and now I only wanted the power that came with being more powerful than the present Queen. I knew perfectly fine that if I wanted to I could kill every single person living at court—with my army of Strigoi and Dimitri by my side of course—but we always held back because we didn't exactly want to kill every single Moroi. They are our food after all and we weren't stupid.

"I know that, Roza." In a moment he was in front of me but when I tried to attack he crushed his lips against mine and I let my self enjoy it. I just couldn't get enough of him, I wanted almost as much as I wanted blood.

When he pulled away I still glared at him.

"Still, we will not kill her. Yet." He added with a cold smile that made me laugh. Now this was the Dimitri I liked. He had such a sense of humor when it came to hunting. He liked to toy with them and let them know he was going after them, but he took his time while our prey cowered and feared us, waiting and waiting the moment that death will fall on him.

"Fine. I'll play along."

"You should. I guess we'll have to make arrangements to start this raid of yours at court." He got that feral look on his face that he always got when he was analyzing and assessing a situation. It was that look that promised some fun.

I placed my hand on his chest and clutched his shirt tight to bring him down to my height. "Promise me I'll get to see her die. It would be better if I get to kill her, though."

"You'll be part of it, but I'm saving her for last so our daughter can do it. I'm sure she will love it." I could not believe he thought of it first! That was a good idea. I was sure Kat would love that once she was awakened.

I kissed him passionately but pulled away before we got caught up. We had plans to make. "This is why we make such good team, Dimitri. Together we are invincible."

**I know what y'all must be thinking and I'm sorry for not updating in a while. But it was, apart from school, because you didn't review the last chapter I put up. It only has like five or something, so I wasn't motivated. So, please, please leave more reviews telling me what you think.**

**Thanks,**

**-Gen Mendez**


	5. Past

**Kat & Dimitri**

"I don't know you, Kitten, but I don't like this." Dimitri murmured next to me. We were in my room, talking about how mom seemed to be very nervous since we got here.

"You're right. There's no reason for her to be so… jumpy." I sat up on my bed and looked at Dimitri on the floor. He was sprawled there with a book. In English. I was surprised how quickly he was catching up. I wondered if he understood everything he was reading and if not why he didn't ask me. "Dimitri." He barely glanced up.

"Do you… remember if she was always like this? I can barely recall any memories and I was five when we went to Russia." He dismissed it by waving his hand. "I'm serious, Dimka. I don't really remember her always being like that."

He sighed and finally sat up, glaring at me. "And you want me to know? How? I have seen little and nothing of her since she let us with our grandmother."

I blinked. "Dimitri…" But he wasn't done.

"I not know no thing of her but that she my mother. Can't tell much of her if I never be with her!" Then he got up and walked out on me.

I never imagined that Dimitri felt that way. I mean, I knew he'd always been bitter that mom was never with us and that she'd left us but not to the point where he made such big deal about it. How long had he been feeling this way and never mentioned it? How didn't he trust me? I hated it when he shut me out, which was ninety percent of the time.

"Damn it." I got up and went into his room without knocking but he wasn't there. "Dimka? Look, I'm sorry ok?" I knocked on his bathroom door. "I didn't mean to…" The door opened so suddenly that I fell backwards and landed on my butt. I felt a sting on my hand but was too distracted looking up at my brother to care. The expression on his face was one of anger and he didn't do anything to help me get up. Instead, he just stepped over me and went over to his bed.

"What are you doing here?" He didn't even glance at me.

I got up and walked out without answering him, barely able to contain the tears that stung my eyes. This Dimitri was angry and mean and I didn't understand why. I'd just wanted to talk with him about things to make it better. Fortunately the tears didn't fall until I was in my room, alone.

I wiped the tears away with the back of my hand but then I noticed the blood on the palm of my hand and remembered that when I fell I cut it. The cut wasn't deep, barely a scratch, but enough to draw blood and it hurt.

After a couple of minutes later I stopped crying, very suddenly, as if nothing had happened. I just couldn't take it anymore. Once again I got out of my room and after shutting the door behind myself I didn't know where to go. I couldn't talk to Dimitri anymore. Paul and Alek were long gone, having left right after they dropped us off a week ago to god knows where. Mom… well, mom was acting weird around us and as much as it hurt to admit it she was a stranger. She'd only visited us once in Russia and even then she'd left in such a hurry without saying goodbye.

I was all alone.

I walked down the hall, towards the living room but when I was halfway there I noticed a door above me. A door to the attic. Curious, I reached up for the cord to pull the down the stairs but it was too high. The third time I finally reached it and pulled. Unfortunately, I didn't anticipate the part where the thing almost crushed me if I hadn't moved.

I looked around nervously, afraid that someone might catch me but it seemed like no one heard the crash. It was a relief and so I stood up and slowly made my way up to the attic. Everything was so dusty, as expected but the weird thing was that it was empty. Empty except for a single box on one corner.

"What could it be?" I wondered out loud.

Slowly, I crawled over to it and tucked my legs underneath me to be more comfortable while exploring it. For some reason I hesitated to open it. It felt as if there was something important.

"You're being ridiculous. It's probably just some old stuff and here you're freaking out." Angry for being so stupid I opened it and saw… a picture of myself. I gasped. It just couldn't be possible. Well, it wasn't exactly a picture of me but the girl in the picture looked a great deal like me. The only difference was the hair and eye color. Her hair was darker than mine and her eyes were brown, just not quite the same as mine. Other than that our facial features were so much alike she could have been my sister. Or… my mother.

Who was this girl? We even had the same smile.

For a moment I let myself just look at the picture. The girl was about my age and she looked so happy! Like she didn't have a care in the world. That's what I thought until I got a good look at her eyes. She looked sad, the complete opposite of what her face showed. In the background I could see a big building and lots of people walking around, like a school.

Still, I just couldn't shake the feeling that maybe I knew her, or that I should know her.

My hands were shaking and so I placed the picture to the side and peered in the box. There were lots of pictures and a book there. The girl was in all of the pictures but there were also lots of pictures of a baby with brown eyes just like mine. I was beginning to think that the previous owner of the apartment had left them until I came across the book I'd dismissed earlier.

"A western novel." My fingers skimmed along the cover lovingly and a memory of Dimitri, my dad, reading me a book similar to this one came to mind.

I opened the book and right there, written in a neat handwriting said: Dimitri Belikov.

This book had belonged to my dad. But then, who was the girl? I kept browsing the book until I came across a specific page in which someone had written something.

Comrade, you're such a cowboy! But I still love you. Always will. Enjoy your reading.

Love, Roza.

Who was this Roza? And why was she writing love notes on the pages of his book? Out of the corner of my eye I saw the back of a picture with something written.

Kathryn Belikov, our baby girl. Dimitri & Roza.

The handwriting was the same from the book. Once again my hands began to shake because I was afraid to turn the picture over. When I did my eyes watered and tears ran down my cheeks. It couldn't be. It was the same girl from the other pictures and her name was Roza. My dad had been with her and in the pictures it said that she was my mom. Roza, not Tasha.

In a fit of anger I began to look at the rest of the pictures. There were lots of them. In some Roza and my Dad were hugging each other or kissing and in some others it was just her or him. But the ones where they were alone it was somewhere around the same place from the first picture of this Roza I saw. It was an Academy. St. Vladimir Academy. And then there was a picture of the Queen.

Queen Vasilisa Dragomir and her husband, Christan Ozera, along with another male Moroi, a dhampir and Roza. Their names were written down on the back. Apparently the Moroi was Adrian Ivashkov and the dhampir Eddie Castile. They were all hugging and laughing, looking happy. It was also at the Academy. But then there were those pictures where Roza was at the house in Russia. I would recognize that interior of the house anywhere. She was often with Dimitri but there were others with another brown-haired girl or my aunts or grandma. She was also pregnant while in Russia.

"Roza… could you be my mother?" I shook my head vehemently just after I said because it was stupid and impossible. She was a dhampir and so was Dimitri. Besides, Dimitri wasn't my dad. He just had a baby with her and they also named her Kat. It was a coincidence. They couldn't be my real parents.

Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse I found a pair of rings attached to a necklace. Looking closely at it I realized that it had something written and it said Roza and Dimitri. They were wedding rings. And it didn't end there. There was also a note.

_Dimitri,_

_I'm not trying to justify myself, I know very well that there isn't any excuse for what I'm about to do. I just want you to know that some recent events have led me to take the decision of leaving. I don't deserve you or our daughter. I know the pain you must be feeling. I feel it. But I have to go._

_Please leave me alone and don't come looking for me. Ever. Someday I might come back, for my daughter, because I do want her. I lover her, do not ever dare to put her against me, she's also mine and never forget that._

_We're taught all whole lives,__they come first__, they will always come first no matter what and two Damphirs simply don't have a future. We never had a future. But please don't hate me, if you can do one thing is forgive me._

_Rose_

So she left and that must have been when Dimitri met Tasha. Yes. That must be it. She couldn't be my mother! It was impossible! And Dimitri… all this time thinking that my step dad was dead when in reality he was my real dad. She left. Tasha never said anything. She lied to me!

I gathered everything and put it back in, except for the wedding rings, which I placed on my neck and brought the box downstairs. I was enraged and tears were running down my cheeks. The only thing I knew was that I needed answers because I could no longer trust myself with what I'd found out. For all I knew, it was just all a misunderstanding and Tasha was my real mom.

"Dimitri, come here!" I emptied the box on the coffee table in the living room and sat down on the sofa.

"Someone better be dead." He murmured under his breath in Russian as he came in but stopped as soon as he saw what was in front of me. "What is that? Did you go through mom's stuff? She's going to—"

"Look at all of this! Look at it and please tell me this is all wrong!" I was on the verge of tears once again. But instead of doing what I told him to and looking at the stuff he came over and hugged me. I hadn't realized how much I needed him until he hugged me. It felt good to have him with me. Right now he was the only one who was family and that I knew. My anchor to normal.

"Kat, stop crying. Please." He rubbed my back in soothing motions. "What is wrong?"

I pulled away from him and motioned for him to look at the pictures. "Take a look, Dimitri. She's been lying to us!" My voice broke at the end.

Dimitri took a picture from the stack and looked at it closely. It was the one with his—our—dad and Roza in Russia and she was pregnant. "What's this? He be with this girl before mom?" His accent was thicker, which meant he was upset and I didn't blame him.

I nodded. "Look at the back of the picture."

He read it, flipped it over again and dropped it to take another and another from the stack. He went through all of them, checking front and back. Many emotions played on his face until he read the letter and he just stared at it for a while. Then he picked up another picture where Dad was holding the baby—probably me, if any of this was true—and looked back and forth from the picture to me. After a couple of minutes in silence, I reached for the necklace around my neck and showed him the insignia in the ring.

"Dimitri & Roza," He murmured quietly and then looked up at me. His face had lost all color and I was sure I looked the same. "He was married to this… woman. Roza."

I didn't know what to say. "Maybe. But why did he keep the rings? Why did she leave? In all the pictures they looked… happy." It just didn't make sense.

"We don't have any pictures from when mom was pregnant with you." He stated and quickly walked up to the cabinet on the other side of the room. When he came back he was holding our photo album and he furiously went through all of them. "There's not a single picture of mom when she was pregnant with you. Only with me and those are few." His eyes met mine and I looked away quickly. "We are not related."

I turned to him, horrified. "Even if this is true, and I'm not saying it is because it can't just be, we have the same father. Dimitri, you are my brother." I expected him to pull away or at least get angry. Instead, he surprised me when he pulled me close for a hug. "I love you little brother."

"I love you too." He whispered back and then we pulled away.

He ran a hand through his hair and when he looked back at me his eyes told me he was thinking about something and I wasn't sure I would like it. "We need to know if any of this is true."

"What else do you want, Dimitri? We have all the pictures and even the letter. I don't know what else there is to know."

"You have pictures and nothing more. We need the whole story."

I scoffed. "There is nothing more to know and even if there was, there is no point in looking into it." He opened his mouth to speak but I went on. "Dad is dead. This woman, Roza, left him and he married our mom. Nothing else. Tasha might not be my real mother, but she is yours. Drop it."

He narrowed his eyes and his lip curled into a bitter smile. "That's it? You don't want to know anything. You're just coming to conclusions. We need to know more."

"No we don't."

Dimitri ignored me. "The Queen is in this pictures, as well as her husband and…" He looked at the back of the picture. "Adrian Ivashkov. Also guardian Castile. We have plenty of people to ask. You more than anyone should want to know the whole story."

I bit my lip. He was right, I was curious.

"Roza should be still alive." That did it. I made up my mind to talk to her.

"Fine. But why not just ask mom?" He shook his head and got up to gather the pictures into one big stack, placing the books to the side, but not before getting a look at the title and smiling a little. If there was something he knew about our dad was his love for westerns.

"We can't just ask her. She might not… say everything or know much."

I looked away from him and down at the stack of pictures. Now that they were neatly organized on one pile I realized that there weren't that many.

"Ok, but who are we going to ask? We don't live here and Adrian Ivashkov could be anywhere, if not dead too." The thought saddened me. "I mean this happened eighteen years ago. Eddie Castile, he could be guarding anyone, anywhere. And the Queen… well, she might live here but what makes you think she'll ever speak to us?"

Dimitri thought about it for a moment, the smiled a little. "I might be able to pass on the message to her." He grabbed my purse from the hanger in the closet and put the pictures, book and letter inside, then closing it and handing it over to me. "We might even talk to her today."

**I'm sorry it took me so long to update! I'm really sorry. But I have lots of stuff going on at school and I recently began watching TV again and fell in love with supernatural and Criminal Minds so I read a lot of FF about those shows. I get lots of homework, hell when I don't have it I panic thinking that I've forgotten to do something, and college classes take up lots of time. Anyhow, I'll try to update soon. **


	6. Tell Me

Minutes later we were walking the halls of the security building, heading to see guardian Salazar, the man who brought us from the airport. Apparently, Dimitri had become friends with him in the last week because, as it turned out, he'd been friends with his (hmm, our) father. Guardian Salazar was also friends with guardian Barnes, a royal guard, also used to be friends with our father, and Dimitri was sure he would pass on the message to the Queen in no time.

"I'm not sure this is a good idea, Dimitri. Perhaps we should ask mom and go from there." I was clutching my purse so tight that it hurt. For some reason I felt as if someone might steal it and we wouldn't have any proof to speak to the Queen.

Dimitri sighed. "This is a good idea. Very good. You'll talk to her and find out the truth, then, if you want to, tell me how it go." I smiled a little.

"Of course I'm going to tell you."

When we reached the office he knocked on the door and someone said to come in from inside. Dimitri opened the door and let us in. Except that it wasn't an office, it was a meeting room and there were about five guardians inside. All their eyes turned towards us and I noticed how some of them mostly stared at Dimitri. They must have also known my dad.

"Guardian Barnes, guardian Salazar, I'm glad I found both of you here. I was wondering if I could speak with the both of you." The guardians looked at each other and back at us.

"Of course, Dimitri. Please come and tell us what's the matter."

After brief introductions we sat down in front of them and I placed my purse on my lap. As of now, it was my most prized possession. It could help me find answers.

"My sister and I wish to speak with Queen Vasilisa." Guardian Barnes raised an eyebrow.

"Dimitri, we do not arrange meetings with the Queen. You must speak with her secretary and…" Dimitri interrupted him.

"I know. But I do not wish for anyone else to know. It's a… private matter."

Both guardians frowned. "If there is something that concerns or puts the Queen in danger you must tell us."

"Nothing like that!" I exclaimed and they turned to me. I felt very nervous. "We want to ask her about this woman." I showed them the picture where the Queen was hugging Roza along and her friends.

Once again they exchanged quick glances but it was guardian Barnes who spoke. "Rose Hathaway," He murmured quietly, almost to himself.

I frowned. "That's her full name? But…" I trailed off, realizing that Rose in Russian was Roza. "You know who that is?" They nodded. "Do you know where I can find her?"

"I think you should ask the Queen herself. It is not our business." Guardian Barnes' answer made me even more nervous, not only because I had a feeling it would be bad news but also because we would meet the Queen.

Dimitri nodded. "That's what we want. Can you ask her to see us?"

Guardian Salazar stood up. "I will tell her that you wish to speak with her. It will be up to her if she wants to talk to you. I think she will, but don't get your hopes up." He left without another word.

"This is too easy." Dimitri murmured and guardian Barnes chuckled.

"When you speak with the Queen you'll realize why. I'm sure she will come, you'll just have to wait."

About twenty minutes later I was losing my nerve and wanted to get out of there already. The guardians in the room were speaking about security and other stuff that I couldn't understand. I didn't care. Dimitri was next to me, staring at the picture I took out earlier and that didn't help at all. Finally, when I was about to tell Dimitri that we should leave, the door opened.

We both stood up and the rest of the guardians also turned towards the door, bowing slightly at the blond woman coming in. She was in her thirties, long platinum hair tied back into a perfect bun and wearing formal clothing. I instantly liked her for some reason but I also felt something else, or saw rather. Her aura was as gold as mine, which meant she was a spirit user.

She scanned the room until her eyes settled on us and she gasped, her hand covering her mouth. "Dimitri? Rose?"

I didn't know what to say. She seemed to be about to faint, or cry, whichever came first.

"Incredible. They look a lot like their parents." Beside the queen there was a man, slightly older, with brown messy hair, a five o'clock shadow covering his jaw and emerald eyes, just like the Queen's.

Dimitri and I bowed to the queen before we walked closer to her. She snapped out of her trance and hurried over to me to hug me. "Oh, I can't believe it! You are her daughter. After all this time…" she pulled away and cupped my face with both her hands, peering at me closely. "You have her face but the rest… the rest is all Dimitri." Then she turned to my brother. "And you… you look just like Dimitri. Except the eyes. Those are Tasha's." My heart sank at her words.

"So it is true? Tasha is not my mother? Roza is?" I still hoped she would deny it.

She frowned. "Rose is your mother, not Tasha!" The Queen sounded every bit as offended as if I'd said she wasn't her daughter's mother.

The man stepped forward and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Lissa, they didn't know that. Remember what happened. She has no idea." That seemed to calm her down a little.

"Guards, could we have a little privacy?" they all nodded and left the room. She motioned for us to take a seat and when we did she gazed at us with wonder for a while before shaking her head and speaking.

"Where have you been?" she reached from across the table to grab my hands. "Why didn't Tasha ever say anything? All this years we've been wondering but she wouldn't say a word to us."

I looked at Dimitri and he was pretty much as upset as I was. "Tasha lied to us," I said in Russian and he nodded. Then I turned back to the queen. "Queen Vasilisa…"

"Call me Lissa, we are family." I nodded, not sure what else to say. Even if she was the Queen and claimed to have known my parents I just couldn't think of her as family. How could I, when the only mother I'd known all my life turned out to be a liar?

"Lissa," It felt weird to call her by her first name. "my brother and I… we've been studying at St. Basil's in Baia. I don't understand any of this but… can you explain what happened?" I took out all the pictures and gave them to her. This was it, the moment I'd get the truth and I felt so nervous.

She looked at them and tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. The man beside her looked at them and with each picture he looked at, his face grew grimmer. A moment later a sob escaped from the queen. She was specially looking at the picture where Rose and their friends were.

"Adrian, look. It's us, Rose and me, at St. Vladimir's! Look how happy we were back then."

"You are Adrian Ivashkov!" I exclaimed. "You are the man from that picture." Of course, how silly of me. How could I have not recognized him?

He looked at the picture a moment before looking up and smiled. "Yes, that's me a long time ago. Just before school was over, I believe." He turned to Lissa and grinned. "Rose was so happy for her pregnancy, remember? Belikov would hardly leave her side." He handed me the picture back to me and pointed to the girl's stomach.

I realized that she did look pregnant. There was a slight bump and she was cradling it.

"Where is she? Is she also here?" I needed to speak with her so badly and I had so many questions.

Lissa became angry. "Tasha didn't tell you anything about her either?" When I shook my head she scoffed. "Ha! Of course she didn't. Of course she didn't. Why would she?" Then she was crying again.

Adrian took it from there, putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer to him. "Kathryn, Rose and Dimitri are… dead. They both died together." I shook my head but he nodded. "You remember when you went on vacation with Dimitri and Tasha, right? You were about five years old and you and Tasha were kidnapped by Strigoi." He looked at Dimitri. "You weren't born yet. She was still pregnant and she'd barely told your father. That's why they went to visit his family in Russia."

"I remember." I whispered softly. How could I forget? I still had nightmares sometimes and then I remembered the girl in my dreams, she was Rose. The bloody girl that reached out to touch my face and looked a lot like me. All this time I'd thought it was just me that I imagined lying there with many Strigoi bite marks, but it was her and we looked a lot alike. "But what was she doing there? I thought she left me and my dad."

"No! It wasn't like that!" Lissa's outrageous cry unsettled me. She seemed pretty upset about all of this and while I understood part of it, the rest just didn't make sense. "Rose didn't want to leave you or Dimitri, she loved both of you."

I showed her the letter. "How do you explain this then? She wrote it, it's her signature and all. She left." I tried to contain the tears threatening to spill, I would not cry in front of this people. No matter their claims, they were nothing to me. I just needed a second and everything would be back under control. If there was one thing I'd learned was the in the Moroi world, the real world, showing weakness was the quickest way to get back-stabbed.

"Tatiana, the queen back then, made her leave. She tricked her!" How unbelievable that was. A Queen bothering with a dhampir? As far as I knew that was just crap. Maybe she was lying too. "She was told that Dimitri and Rose lied at Victor's trial about their relationship and…" I cut her off.

"Lied? Why? I don't understand anything." I exclaimed. This didn't make any sense.

"Rose and Dimitri met at St. Vladmir Academy." Adrian said. "He was the guardian who brought them back to the Academy after they ran away. At the time they didn't know much about spirit and they left because Lissa felt threatened at the academy so they left. When they got back Dimitri became her mentor so she could catch up with training and be able to graduate in the spring. You see, Rose wanted to become Lissa's guardian and protect her because they were best friends and loved each other like sisters."

He had a far away look on his face, sad at the same time. As if those memories were very painful. "That's how Rose and Dimitri fell in love with each other. It turned out that Victor Dashkov was who wanted to hurt Lissa and one night he gave Rose a necklace that had a lust spell so she and Dimitri would be… uh… too busy with each other," I blushed. "Instead of protecting Lissa. It almost worked, but nothing happened and they rescued Lissa. But they had to lie at Victor's trial months later and said that the spell was so Rose would engage in combat with Dimitri. While it wouldn't have mattered if they would have said the truth because it had nothing to do with what Victor did, it was still a lie and they'd sworn an oath to tell nothing but the truth."

"But why didn't they say the truth, that they loved each other?" I asked.

"Because Dimitri was her _older_ mentor. At the time he was 24 and she was seventeen, which would have landed Dimitri in jail for statutory rape and Rose kicked out of the Academy. If she was kicked out then she wouldn't graduate and become Lissa's guardian and she loved Dimitri too much to see him in jail. So they kept it a secret until the Academy was attacked by Strigoi right after they went back to the Academy. Dimitri was almost killed and then Rose got pregnant and so at the end she decided that she wanted to raise you instead of becoming a guardian. Dimitri and Rose left and went to Russia right after graduation. They got engaged and Rose was this time kidnapped by Strigoi. Viktoria and Dimitri rescued her and once again they came here to America. That's when I met my wife, Viktoria, Dimitri's sister." He smiled fondly. "But that's also when you were born and Rose left a month later. Lissa already explained why. But I assure you that it wasn't Rose's choice."

We were silent for a moment while I processed everything. It seemed surreal, something out of a romance novel and I wasn't sure I believed it. Yes, this was the Queen and Adrian Ivashkov to whom I was speaking to and they wouldn't lie about something important like that but it was still unbelievable. I mean, surely they wouldn't lie.

I looked at Dimitri and saw that he was also looking at me. We stared at each other and then he turned to Lissa.

"Queen Vasilisa, why was she never told about any of this?" Dimitri asked. I was wondering the same thing.

I turned expectantly to her.

Now she looked angry once again. "Because your mother kept us from the two of you. Tasha didn't want the two of you to know the truth and we had no right to tell you as long as she didn't want to. But now… both of you came asking questions and I needed you to know." From across the table she took both of my hands in hers. "Now you know what really happened between your parents. Dimitri and Rose loved you so much…"

I tried to hide my hurt by putting on a brave face. My defiance didn't seem to phase either of them. "But she never came back. I never got a chance to meet her."

"Yes you did, don't you remember?" I shook my head. "Just before you went to Russia with your father and Tasha she came back and spent some time with you. You were little and probably don't remember but she did love you. So much that she…" Her voice broke. "She left Dimitri so you would be safe from Tatiana."

"But he still married Tasha, even though he was in love with Rose?" Dimitri sneered, not believing for a second that it could happen. To be honest I also doubted it.

Lissa nodded but it was Adrian who answered. "Yes. Dimitri and Tasha were best friends before he met Rose and Tasha always had a thing for him. She even asked him to be her guardian but he refused because by then he was already in love with Rose, though he couldn't be with her because she was still his student."

Dimitri wasn't pleased with that answer and neither was I. If he'd loved my mother as much as Adrian and the Queen claimed then he wouldn't have married Tasha. As much as I loved Tasha, after all I've thought of her as my mother all these years, it didn't seem fair for anyone.

"Okay, so they loved each other and now they're dead." My voice sounded cold and I couldn't believe I was speaking this way. But it was hard not to when my whole world had just been turned upside down. "Thank you for answering my questions, Queen. Thank you Lord Ivashkov. But we must go now. Mom must be worried." The Queen winced when I said 'mom'.

"Wait," Adrian said, standing up at the same time Dimitri and I did. "Please, let Viktoria get her to meet you. She's Dimitri's sister and loved your mother very much. She's on her way over here."

I looked at Dimitri and when he nodded I did the same. "Okay, we'll wait. But we'll leave as soon as we say hi." They both nodded.

"Kathryn," Vasilisa attempted to reach out for me but I flinched when she touched me. This woman, as sweet as she was, obviously didn't like Tasha and the fact that she was also a Spirit user kept me on edge. "Please, don't just go. I know Tasha will be leaving again soon and I would have gone looking for you if I'd known you were here with her but…" she sighed. "She's kept you far away from us."

I didn't know what to say. I couldn't deal with any of this right now, it was just too much. So I shook my head and pulled away from her. "I…" but I was interrupted when the door swung open and in came a woman who looked a lot like my aunts Karolina and Sonya.

She stared at me and then came over and hugged me. I hugged her back because it felt like the right thing to do. "Kat, Kat. Oh my goodness, I can't believe it's really you!" she pulled away a little to look at my face. "Last time I saw you was when you were just a little girl and Dimitri brought you to the Academy. Now you're all grown up." Then her eyes darted to my brother and tears gathered in her eyes and fell down her cheeks.

I pulled away from her now that she was distracted and she went to see my brother. "Dimitri… you look just like my brother when he was young. Except the eyes…" Her lip curled in distaste.

"You must be Viktoria. Nice to meet you." My brother said, ignoring her earlier comment. Since we'd grown up in Baia, where Viktoria was from, it wasn't the first time we saw her, or at least a picture of her. At the house, there were lots of pictures of the family but we'd never met Viktoria. As far as I knew she only kept in contact through the phone or letters, which is why I'd never met her.

For a moment she seemed taken back but then she nodded a little dazed. "Yes,"

"I'm sorry, but we must go." I said quickly.

Viktoria turned to me, looking hurt. "So soon? But I just…"

"I know. But I have to go. Mom must be worried" I stated, trying not to sound so curt. Dimitri grabbed my hand and we both got out of there as quick as possible. I didn't realize I'd forgotten part of my treasure back in the room until we were at the apartment and by then I didn't want to go back. _Let them have it_, I thought. _It meant so much more to them than to me_.

**At last, another update. LoveIsThis' comment made me update again. Thanks. :) Hope you like this chapter. However, I only have one more written chapter left and I'll see if I update tomorrow so it will be a while after that before I update again. The story will continue. Now, for those of you who don't know, soon I'll post my very own SUPERNATURAL fan fic. that show is just so... amazing! I'm not afraid of saying I'm a Dean girl. Which also means that... yes! I'm back on track! I'll finish this story, finally, soon. But be patient, writing a new story and finishing the rest of them is not easy. **

**Please review! It's on you whether I keep up with this story or not if y'all don't read it. **

**-GenLia **


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